Valentina Possú
Cox
Lang. B4
4 Mar. 2016
Assertion #1
The effectiveness of nonviolence in the Civil Rights movement is evident in its success to gain public support and inspire government intervention. The importance of publicity to the movement can be seen in the 1964 campaign “Freedom Summer”. During the 1960s, activists began working in Mississippi, “Essentially a closed society on racial issues…[that] fought tenaciously, often violently, to maintain a way of life based on white supremacy” (Jenkins). There, a coalition known as the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) between the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), …show more content…
During the 1964 campaign, the COFO focused the majority of its efforts in registering African Americans of the rural community. There was great resistance by the white population which sought after the use of violence and economic intimidation. Despite these challenges, the COFO persevered. Volunteers of all races were recruited from college campuses (Brisben). However, there was an especially large influx of college students. This would help the campaign gain federal protection, just as two “Freedom Summer” leaders predicted, “exposing the children of prominent and affluent whites to the daily terror experienced by African Americans would dramatize effectively the need for federal protection and intervention in the Mississippi movement” (Jenkins). On August 4, six weeks of “An intensive manhunt uncovered their [James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner’s] bodies in Neshoba County…” (Jenkins). “The kidnapping and assassination by Klansman shocked the nation…” (Jenkins), resulting in national attention and government intervention. The fact that two of the three COFO workers assassinated were white youths was a large component in the reason why the murders had such a great impact. …show more content…
His arrest was purely strategic, and its occurrence on Good Friday only aided in solidifying “…the local black community behind the movement because of the day’s significance in the black community (King 1963)” and attracting “…sympathetic national attention to the Birmingham struggle because of his national visibility” (Morris). While in jail, public support and demonstrations actually increased (Morris). Furthermore, his arrest led to “’…stepped-up appeals to the Kennedy administration to intervene in the Birmingham situation’ (Westin and Mahoney 1974, pp. 142-43)” (Morris). On May 2, or “D” Day, the Birmingham movement raises the stakes by involving the black youth. “…hundreds of grammar school and high school students participated in waves of disciplined mass marches to City Hall and to the downtown business district” (Morris). The drama generated and large number of arrests combined with the reality the marchers were children, caught the media’s attention. “…the ‘D’ Day activities received front page coverage in national media including the New York Times and the Washington Post (Garrow 1978), both of which had initially opposed the campaign” (Morris). The following day, on May 3, more
Cox
Lang. B4
4 Mar. 2016
Assertion #1
The effectiveness of nonviolence in the Civil Rights movement is evident in its success to gain public support and inspire government intervention. The importance of publicity to the movement can be seen in the 1964 campaign “Freedom Summer”. During the 1960s, activists began working in Mississippi, “Essentially a closed society on racial issues…[that] fought tenaciously, often violently, to maintain a way of life based on white supremacy” (Jenkins). There, a coalition known as the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) between the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), …show more content…
During the 1964 campaign, the COFO focused the majority of its efforts in registering African Americans of the rural community. There was great resistance by the white population which sought after the use of violence and economic intimidation. Despite these challenges, the COFO persevered. Volunteers of all races were recruited from college campuses (Brisben). However, there was an especially large influx of college students. This would help the campaign gain federal protection, just as two “Freedom Summer” leaders predicted, “exposing the children of prominent and affluent whites to the daily terror experienced by African Americans would dramatize effectively the need for federal protection and intervention in the Mississippi movement” (Jenkins). On August 4, six weeks of “An intensive manhunt uncovered their [James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner’s] bodies in Neshoba County…” (Jenkins). “The kidnapping and assassination by Klansman shocked the nation…” (Jenkins), resulting in national attention and government intervention. The fact that two of the three COFO workers assassinated were white youths was a large component in the reason why the murders had such a great impact. …show more content…
His arrest was purely strategic, and its occurrence on Good Friday only aided in solidifying “…the local black community behind the movement because of the day’s significance in the black community (King 1963)” and attracting “…sympathetic national attention to the Birmingham struggle because of his national visibility” (Morris). While in jail, public support and demonstrations actually increased (Morris). Furthermore, his arrest led to “’…stepped-up appeals to the Kennedy administration to intervene in the Birmingham situation’ (Westin and Mahoney 1974, pp. 142-43)” (Morris). On May 2, or “D” Day, the Birmingham movement raises the stakes by involving the black youth. “…hundreds of grammar school and high school students participated in waves of disciplined mass marches to City Hall and to the downtown business district” (Morris). The drama generated and large number of arrests combined with the reality the marchers were children, caught the media’s attention. “…the ‘D’ Day activities received front page coverage in national media including the New York Times and the Washington Post (Garrow 1978), both of which had initially opposed the campaign” (Morris). The following day, on May 3, more